Sunday, August 30, 2009

When a writer's laptop goes kerplunk



Hello friends,

I had hoped to write a new episode in my "Paradise" series this week. But the vagaries of life intervened, as they often do.

When my Dell laptop crashed, I ordered my new MacBook Pro just in time to have it delivered before my trip to Boston to bring my daughter, Melanie, back to grad school and visit family in the area. Uh huh. You guessed it. The poor little laptop missed its Fed Ex connection in CHINA, and didn't make it. Actually, it arrived two hours after we left for our trip. So I've been without a laptop for about three weeks now.

The old Dell, which I had just spend many hundreds on to upgrade with a new hard drive and extra memory- decided not to take a charge anymore. After being told by two repair shops that it was too old to work on (six years old!), I looked up advice online, tried to open it up to find the supposed bad solder joint, and failed miserably. Sigh. So I made the psychological switch to Mac (after salivating over my daughter's Macbook and getting a few lessons on it) and waited with bated breath.



I haven't written anything in two weeks. It's killing me, the itch to write has been so pervasive I almost sent my beloved grandsons home early to free up the old Muse. Instead, in between making meals, doing dishes, keeping them in relatively clean clothes, and playing with them, I methodically transferred all my backed up files (from the old PC, which thank God keeps on kickin') to the new Mac, got my email working through their mail client, and just now finished transferring my 60 Gig plus photos and music onto the MacBook. There are a few glitches yet to work out, but I am a PC-to-Mac switcher, so I need to research it, or call the Mac center. I've been told they are wonderful for support, and we'll find out soon.

I hope you're all well and thriving. I'm still looking for a new "day job," and am really hoping the Man upstairs has something marvelous planned for me. Soon. Summer's almost over, and it's time to get back to work.

9 comments:

Unknown said...

I dont have to have my pc crash to lose a day or two's worth of work. I just have to be real tired and hit delete instead of save.

Dumb...Dumb I have no excuses just an idea that I might need to take a few days off.

s.w. vaughn said...

Oh, man, what a lot of work! Here's hoping the Mac support center is as good as they say it is. :-)

I'm glad you're back online!

Kim Smith said...

I wasnt expecting to have Internet connection this week while I am away, but I do have it, at least some. Tonight anyway. I am in Saco ME and we have had a whirlwind tour of lighthouses and craggy Maine coastline. It has been so awesome and inspiring, I know just what you mean about itching to write!

Aaron Paul Lazar said...

SStorrie - holy cow, that really stinks! I try to send my stuff to myself or crit partners whenever it's new, and keep everything in my "sent" folder in Yahoo just in case. Hang in there!

Hey, SW! Glad to be back!

Kim, I am NUTS about Maine (as you know from Tremolo), and am supremely jealous that you're up there!! Enjoy it, and come back with a new story for us. ;o)

Marta Stephens said...

Must be the year for new computers all the way around. I haven't killed my new lap top yet, but the day is young.

Aaron Paul Lazar said...

Don't even say that, Marta!~ LOL!

Sheila Deeth said...

Hmmm. I'm meant to spend most of today reinstalling windows on my son's Dell, ready for his return to college. (Got to reinstall. It crashed during an update and all efforts to recover have failed.)

Marilyn Meredith a.k.a. F. M. Meredith said...

I pay for a service that automatically backs up off site and I can tell you it's well-worth the money.

Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com

Sylvia Dickey Smith said...

Let us know how you like the MAC, I've been tempted!

I know what you mean about itchy fingers dying to write--and about hitting the delete button instead of the Save one. Yikes!!